Living With Parents MIGHT Be Sound Financial Management

Living With Parents MIGHT Be Sound Financial Management

The prospect of living with your parents for the first few years after graduating from high school or college might possess all the appeal of, say, shoving bamboo shoots under your fingernails each morning upon rising. But it MIGHT be good financial management to start off your adult life. Note we said this might be a good idea. Obviously, not in all cases, and your particular family dynamics could render the suggestion laughable but, for today’s purpose, we’re only looking at this from a financial point of view.

The Young Wealth staff makes no claims that staying under the same roof with the parents won’t mean giving up some independence – there’s a good chance it will. The obvious upside to the arrangement is it should reduce your overall living expenses. If it turns out that staying at home for a year or two after graduation is somehow just as expensive as going out on your own, don’t waste another second thinking about it However, even if they require you to toss a few bucks into the common kitty, it likely won’t be as expensive as coughing up first and last month’s rent plus a security deposit to move into your own place.

Depending on where in the world you live, it takes a chunk of several thousand dollars to even get move into an apartment or rental house. Monthly expenses such as utilities, phone, cable television, and internet service come at their own high cost and sometimes require individual deposits. The area where living with the parents has a big upside to your future financial management is it should allow you to get a flying start on saving for big ticket items like a mortgage down payment, wedding, or setting up an emergency fund.

If you decide to go this route, sit down with both parents and have a discussion about what the living conditions will be. Find out if they will require rent of some sort or maybe increased responsibility towards household chores. Will there be a curfew and, if so, can you abide by it? To avoid hard feelings, make sure everyone is perfectly clear about how much you will pay, if any, and how often you’ll need to stagger downstairs in the morning to wash dishes.